Between the two World Wars Anglo-American Geography was forced once again to
re-invent itself to try to uphold its status as a credible university subject. Its position as the science of Empire
was of little use at a time when the empires of the major powers were in decline, with debate increasingly focused
on internal issues, such as urban poverty and unemployment. With the demise of environmental determinism Geography
lacked a ‘big idea’; as a result it lost ground to emergent, ‘scientific’ and ‘relevant’ disciplines such as economics,
sociology, meteorology and engineering hydrology.

Geography’s strategic response in the 1920s and 1930s was, with hindsight, little
short of disastrous. Forced to choose for itself a new tradition, (Anglo-American) Geography set itself up as the
science of areal differentiation:
the study of what and why it is which makes certain places similar, and other places different, which enables us
to define/distinguish between regions. This idea prioritised the survey/fieldwork tradition within Geography: the
emphasis on a subject led by ‘hard facts’ (‘empiricism’, if perhaps not quite ‘positivism’ - see next lecture)
supposedly guaranteed a scientific
programme distinct from what were now seen as the embarrassing mystical speculations of environmental determinism.

This new identity did not convince. Although briefly popular, thanks to the influence
of powerful figures such as Hartshorne and Sauer, many people, both within and without Geography, refused to accept
its scientific pretensions. As the enthusiasm/demand for academics to pursue relevant and useful science grew,
regional geography increasingly came across as an anachronistic, overly-descriptive subject of little practical
use. The advocates of Geography as spatial science
gathered their weapons, and prepared to attack...

Useful quotey bits:

Botany is the study of plants, and geology that of rocks, because these categories
of fact are evident to all intelligence that has concerned itself with the observation of nature. In the same sense,
area or landscape is the field of geography, because it is a naively given, important section of reality, not a
sophisticated thesis. Geography assumes the responsibility for the study of areas because there exists a common
curiosity about the subject. The fact that every school child knows that geography provides information about different
countries is enough to establish the validity of such a definition...

...the objects which exist together in the landscape exist in interrelation.
We assert that they constitute a reality as a whole that is not expressed by a consideration of the constituent
parts separately, that area has form, structure and function, and hence position in a system, and that it is subject
to development, change and completion. Without this view of areal reality and relation, there exist only special
disciplines, not geography as generally understood. The situation is analogous to that of history, which may be
divided among economies, government, sociology, and so on; but when this is done, the result is not history.

CARL SAUER

The morphology of landscape

1925

The synoptic, comparative view of phenomena, the carefully cultivated habit of
seeing woods rather than trees... the geographical method is an indispensable road to truth, different from, but
supplementary to that pursued by the analytical sciences...

S. W. WOOLDRIDGE

The geographer as scientist

1946

…regional geographers may perhaps be trying to put boundaries that do not exist
around areas that do not matter...

GEORGE KIMBLE

The inadequacy of the regional concept

1946

It would be good if we could again approach the earth with unhampered curiosity
and attempt to satisfy that curiosity by whatever means the problems we encounter suggest. In particular, we should
discard a restriction that has long been laid upon us: the prohibition of concern with processes. Let processes
be restored to the central position they deserve: physical processes in physical geography, historical processes
in cultural geography. Let us resume the fresh and frank quest that Hinman announced nearly seventy years ago:
"to trace the operation of the laws of nature upon the earth". The land, the sky and the water confront
us with questions whenever we look at them with open eyes. These questions, and the privilege of sharing in the
quest of answers to them, are part of our birthright.

JOHN LEIGHLY

What has happened to physical geography?

1955

The present conditions of the field indicate a stage of development, well known
from other social sciences, which finds most geographers still busy with classifications rather than looking for
laws. We know that classification is the first step in any kind of systematic work. But when the other steps, which
naturally follow, are not taken, and classifications become the end of scientific investigation, then the field
becomes sterile...

...It seems to me that as long as geographers cultivate its systematic aspects,
geography’s prospects as a discipline of its own are good indeed... I am not so optimistic in case geography should
reject the search for laws, exalt its regional aspects for its own sake and thus limit itself more and more to
mere description.

F. K. SCHAEFER

Exceptionalism in geography

1953

I was, and still am, excited by Schaefer. Now you may present me with formal
proofs (1) that all German geographers are deaf, dumb and unable to write and (2) that Schaefer was cruel to little
children, and I would still be excited by Schaefer. Excited simply because Schaefer seemed to know in some crude
way of the world of science of which geography is a part.

WILLIAM GARRISON

1955

...mid-twentieth century geography formalised the ideals of its Victorian forebears...
The concern with the discovery of general laws, or at least with the formulation and verification of particular
theories, was an important one because it indicated that the methods by which other sciences had secured intellectual
recognition might work for geography as well. What was more, those methods appeared to provide an essential technical
foundation for the elaboration of private and public policy. Geography could now prescribe ‘the optimum means of achieving a given set of social objectives’, so that more
research funds could be attracted from corporations and the state itself. In short, the Victorian Pantheon was
refurbished.

DEREK GREGORY

Ideology, Science and Human Geography

1978

HARTSHORNE & SAUER COMPARED:

Both wrote profusely on the nature and scope of geography.

Both believed that inter-war (American) geography faced a crisis of identity
which threatened its institutional future.

Both rejected a priori grand theory (i.e. sweeping abstractions which assume the explanation before the facts
are established).

Both believed environmental determinism fell foul of this theoretical trap;
as such it represented a deviation from the correct course of geography (‘path of righteousness’).

Both looked to mainland European (especially German) geography for an alternative
identity.

(Loosely, indirectly and incorrectly following Kantian philosophy) Both believed
geography to be a discipline of synthesis,
specialising in the study of areal differentiation.
This gave geography its unique character, and set it aside - i.e. beyond challenge - from other academic disciplines.
It was this claim to unique identity which Schaefer meant by ‘exceptionalism’ in geography.

Both believed this kind of geography was scientific. Both advocated ‘positivistic’ inductive scientific method, which began with
the process of gathering material field data. Hartshorne’s dictum that if it can be mapped, it’s geography, applies
equally well to Sauer.

Both seemed to assume that laws of spatial inter-relations would follow automatically
(and win the approval and respect of both internal and external commentators) from the descriptive process of mapping.

Both sought to fossilise geography through their methodological statements.

Both advocated a type of geography which emphasised rural, regional phenomena
which were increasingly seen as anachronistic. This geography had little appeal for those increasingly struck by
a range of new urban and global problems.

So - although both carried great authority - both ultimately failed to satisfy
a large body of opinion over their respective claims to know the one true scientific geography.

The main point of conflict between Hartshorne and Sauer rests on the role of
historical processes within geography. Sauer argued historical analysis was essential to a true appreciation of
landscape; Hartshorne argued that history was beyond the scope of geography, having been allocated an entirely
separate slot according to Kant’s classification of the sciences.

Big words of the week:

A bit of a cop-out here! I have not tried to define terms, but have set terms
up against each other as a series of dichotomies. These encapsulate the rhetoric of the spatial science school:
I have tried to set the list out so that (relatively) neutral terms appear at the top, and give way to increasingly
value-laden terms towards the foot of the list. Dichotomies such as these inevitably mis-represent the two opposed
positions, but it was (and is) what people were prepared to believe which was important. Further details of the
debate can be found by looking up appropriate words in The Dictionary
of Human Geography (which tries to provide a balanced view), as well
as in the reading.

AREAL DIFFERENTIATION

SPATIAL SCIENCE

Regional geography

Systematic geography

Place

Space

Synthesis

Abstraction

Idiographic

Nomothetic

= to do with the particular/unique

= law-seeking

Empirical

Theoretical

Descriptive

Analytical/explanatory

‘Arts’ tradition

‘Science’ tradition

Useless

Useful

Big idea of the week:

THE TWO CULTURES. This was the title
of a public lecture given in 1959 by the prominent scientist and novelist C. P. Snow, which gave rise to intense
debate in academic circles, and received widespread international attention - largely because its central argument
captured the ‘spirit-of-the-age’. Snow’s theme was the usefulness or otherwise of different academic, and their related social, traditions. Snow identified
two distinct cultures (yet another dichotomy for you to think over!): that of the ARTS (or the "literary intellectuals")
and that of the SCIENCES. Snow saw the sciences as a powerful force for social and economic change, whereas he
saw the arts as anachronistic, self-indulgent, and pretty much useless. Confronted with major issues such as poverty,
the scientist got up and did something about it; the artist locked himself away in his ivory tower, and wrote a
book celebrating the nobility of such suffering! Snow’s message was clear: faced with the realities and demands
of the modern, post-war world (he had first thought of entitling his lecture The
Rich and the Poor), science was the way to go.

Once again, Livingstone provides perhaps the best single summary. You may as
well read the whole of Ch. 9 while you’re at it, as the rest will be recommended key reading for the next lecture
on the ‘Quantitative Revolution’. The three pages taken from the introduction to Part IV of the ALR volume provide
as good a summary of the wider social and political context as you will find. Johnston’s book provides an alternative
source of information - probably rather easier to read than David Livingstone.

Supplementary reading

For the old:

Sauer, C. O. 1924. The survey method in geography and its objectives. Annals of the Association of American Geographers,
14, 1, pp. 17-33.

Sauer’s paper sets out his vision of how geography should be done, by which he
hopes to establish a new identity and prestige for the discipline. In short, he advocates a framework of study
designed to elucidate the inter-relationships of certain phenomena within a selected area (region) by means of
fieldwork conducted according to certain preconceived categories. Wooldridge (prominent British geomorphologist;
adherent of Davisian denudation chronologies) offers a (not that different) view from physical geography. His lecture
is less rigorous than Sauer’s in that it does not specify rules which are to dictate how to do geography. Unlike
Sauer, he admits the possibility that valid geography may be conducted along systematic lines, but claims nevertheless
that this still involves some kind of mystical geographic content based on "spatial context". What this
is exactly is not clear: to my reading, Wooldridge, anxious to distance the discipline from the ‘traditional’ sciences,
seems to offer little other than blind faith in the descriptive synthesis of data arranged in space. If you’re
interested, you can read and decide for yourself...

Schaefer’s classic paper is a methodological attack on regional geography - effectively it is a manifesto for a switch to an explicit
law-seeking approach to geography. Kimble’s paper questions the relevance of the region as a framework for substantive research - he argues the region
is a fictional entity of little value to geographers seeking to come to terms with the modern world.

The wider context:

Harvey, D. 1974. What kind of geography for what kind of public policy? Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers,
63, pp. 18-24.

Harvey, writing from a Marxist perspective, argues that the post-war success
of geography relates to its role as a servant of the ‘corporate state’. The evolving post-war capitalist structure
required some means by which it could legitimise its intrinsic spatial inequalities; geography was able to provide
explanations of such inequalities, supposedly in terms of ‘natural’ laws, and so took its chance (i.e. sold out!)
to establish itself as a secure academic discipline which attracted prestige and research funding. You need not
accept in full Harvey’s political argument, but the message that the ‘new’ geography was in the right place, at
the right time, with a seductive range of new ideas to play with, is appealing.

This week’s useful add-on:

So - did the character of Geography really change? Here is list of Aberdeen thesis
titles, the first batch taken from the years prior to 1953, the second taken from the Class of 1973. The choice
of 1973 is not entirely arbitrary - I assume that 20 years represents sufficient time for the full impact of the
‘Schaefer Revolution’ - if, indeed, such a thing did occur - to make itself felt on undergraduate teaching. You
may draw your own conclusions; however, to my mind, the switch from the traditional regional monograph to more
specialised studies - particularly case studies designed to illustrate certain issues in systematic geography (housing,
transport, population, glacial geomorphology...) - is clear. If nothing else, thesis titles certainly became longer!

Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen

UNDERGRADUATE THESES, 1928-53 & 1973

1928-1953

1920s

Mainland of Orkney

Dee Valley and Bordering Uplands

The Basin of the Middle Don

The Upper Deveron and its Tributaries

1930s

The Lower Don Valley, Volumes 1-3 (!)

The Urban Communities of West North America

Northern Banffshire

Southern Kincardineshire

Tanganyika Territory

1940s

The Drainage Basin of the Southern Esk

The French Canadian Population

Trinidad, British West Indies

Kincardineshire

1950-1

Teviotdale

Some Aspects of the Geography of Jersey

The Maltese Islands

Buchan

Upper Deeside - a Regional Study

The Geographical Background of the District of Lochaber

North-West Caithness

The Development of the Fife Coalfield

Badenoch - a Geographical Study

Climate and Present-Day Agriculture of French Morocco

Burmese Economic Progress

Historical Geography of South Essex

The Dry Zone of Ceylon

The Garioch

The Atholl Basin

The Niagara Peninsula

Some Aspects of the Geography of Bombay

The Dee Estuary

The Black Isle

The Development of Calcutta

Village Urban Development on the North-East Coast of Scotland

Some Aspects of the Economic Purposes of the Lower Donside

Cornwall - Land Utilisation

The Parish of Calstock

The Upper Forth Valley

1952

Some Aspects of the Economic Development of The Soar Valley

The Caledonian Canal

The Middle Eden Basin - Fife

Feughside

Singapore - the Island

The Aberdeen White Fish Industry

The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and Iran

East Stirlingshire

An Appreciation of the Geography of the Burgh of Arbroath

Montrose - a Town Survey

1953

The Economy of Shetland

The Eastern Gebel-el-Akdar of Cyrenaica

North of the Sands (Barrow Area)

The Problems of the Parish of Barvas - Lewis

Lower Moray

The Port of Aberdeen

Romney Marsh

1973

The Moray Lowlands - a Study of Livestock Movements

Aspects of the Evolution of the Rural Landscape in West Oxfordshire Before 1036

Post-War Changes in the Fife Fishing Industry

A Study of the Industrial Transport System of Aberdeen

The Analysis of Vegetation Distribution and Contributing Environmental Factors
on Mount Blair, Glenshee

An Impact Assessment of the Moray Air Stations

A Study of the Changing Form and Function of a Shopping Centre

A Comparative Cost and Locational Analysis of the Ravenscraig and Proposed Hunterston
Steel Complexes

The Tourist Industry of the City of Aberdeen

Milk Bottle Trippages in the Glasgow Area

Land Use in Glenesk

Factors and Problems Influencing Land Use in a Marginal Area - A Case Study of
the Parish of Keith

Deglaciation of the Moray Firth Coastlands - a Reappraisal

The General Geomorphology of Upper Annandale

The Parish of Tarbat

The Evolution and Morphology of the Central Area of Aberdeen

Socio-Economic Effects of Forestry on Arran

Coll - an Island Study

The Container Berth, Taking Grangemouth Docks as an Example

Aspects of Tourism in the Oban Area

Changes in Shetland’s Development

Residential Housing Patterns in Stuttgart

Texture and Geometry of Talus

Tourism and the Environment. Skye - Case Study

Patterns of Recreational Land Use in Forests - a Study of Two Forest Walks

Aspects of Erosion and Mass Movement on Peat Slopes in South Harris

Aspects of the Spatial Organisation of the Trinidad Sugar Industry

Sheep and Cattle Movement Patterns Within the Catchment Area of Stirling Livestock
Market

Romford, Essex: Transport Development and Suburban Growth

Administrative Boundaries - a Case Study

Some Aspects of the Post-War Population Explosion at Waterton

Service Centres in Caithness

The Analysis of the Patterns of Functional Location in Part of the North-East
of Scotland

The Aberdeenshire Canal. A Study in Transport History

The Post-War Development of the Fishing Industry in Lossiemouth, Buckie and Macduff
Districts

Industrial Estates in West Fife

Urban Residential Patterns in the City of Perth, 1972

Drumchapel and Anniesland Cross: a Study in Shopping Patterns

The Grey Areas: A Spatial Study in Social Polarisation in the City of Aberdeen

Tourism in Shetland

Cawdor - a Rural Parish - its Evolution and Patterns

Land Use and Economy in the Historical Geography of the Burgh of Macduff